184 The Wonders of the Permian 



broad enough for two to walk in it side by side, 

 I knew if Maud was discovered, she would want 

 not to follow me like an Indian in single file, 

 but beside me. I often stopped to listen, as I 

 rapidly progressed toward one of the open spaces 

 I had noted from the tree, because born on the 

 slight breeze that rustled the leaves above me, I 

 could hear the croaking of frogs that grew loud- 

 er and louder, the sound put me in mind of a lot 

 of frogs singing through a megaphone. Sudden- 

 ly without warning, I cut through the jungle and 

 found myself facing an inland lake of fresh water 

 bordered in places with reeds and rushes and 

 moss that reached into the water. 



At another place near where I caught my fir^t 

 view of the waters, was a sandy beach. Peopled 

 with life, both reptiles and batracians were ev- 

 erywhere. The great Salamander Eryops of 

 Cope of which I had secured so much material in 

 the Red Beds of the Big Wichita River in Texas 

 both for Cope, Zittel and Von Hume, swam 

 in the waters before me or measured their six 

 feet of length upon the sand. The frog like noise 

 I concluded came from these huge monarchs of 

 the Amphibians. I could see them resting on 

 logs that were half submerged in the water, or 

 swimming below the water; lying on the bottom 

 or crawling along the shore. Emerging from the 

 jungle that fringed the lake on the further mar- 

 gin from me were strange reptiles. One I noticed 

 in particular was the largest of his tribe we were 



